Bellevue housing market sees record-breaking September numbers

In September, the housing market saw more new listings and more pending home sales in King County compared to a year ago.

“In fact,” says Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, “last month was the best September on record.” He said the surge-hot housing market continues on a seasonality basis. This means that while pending sales may be slowing down, it’s really a seasonal impact. When you compare last September’s statistics to those of a year ago, the numbers are higher.

September also had a kinder, gentler feel. The market saw a slight decrease in the number of multiple offers situations for new listings, so buyers are feeling a bit of relief.

Karen Lindsay, managing broker of John L. Scott Bellevue-Issaquah, says September was a strong month for pending sales in Bellevue.

“Our pending sales last month were up 37.5 percent from that of September 2015. This is undoubtedly due to an increase in new listings. Our brokers had slightly more inventory to show and sell their buyers.”

Lindsay said they saw a few interesting things in the marketplace last month. Some sellers were willing to accept contingent offers — something they haven’t seen for a while. This enabled a sale and another listing.

“If it becomes a trend, it would be good for the market,” she said. “We are anticipating a very strong October and November.”

It is normal for median home prices to fluctuate the second half of the year. The median home price dropped from $550,000 in August to $538,000 for September in King County. That being said, home prices continue to show appreciation compared to a year ago.

In fact, appreciation in King County is up 9.74 percent from last September.